Earth Day 2018 inspires volunteering activities at Globe

Globe Telecom employees recently shared their time and skills by participating in various coastal cleanup and tree-planting activities spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). This is part of the company’s volunteerism or “volunteaming” efforts to celebrate Earth Day, one of the world’s most important environment care-related events.

“Last year, we reached an all-time high in our volunteerism goals when a total of 3,803 employees volunteered for various social development causes,” Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto stated. “2018 is a year where we put volunteerism in the DNA of each employee—building a base of volunteers with the sole purpose of doing a ‘Globe of Good.’ We intend to bring in more employees who may want to share their time and effort and encourage them to volunteer in any of the activities that they support.”

A total of 38 volunteers from Globe joined a Coastal Clean Up activity at Las Piñas Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA) to help reduce waste brought by single-use plastic. This was followed by the participation of more than 90 Globe volunteers in a mangrove planting initiative in Brgy. Balibago, Calatagan, Batangas.

Also, the company’s “volunteaming” activities for Earth Month 2018 was highlighted by more than 60 Globe volunteers, who participated in a Watershed Ecosystem Awareness Activity conducted by the DENR in Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan. The activity emphasized the importance and value of keeping Angat Dam, a strategically-located hydroelectric dam that supplies almost 90 percent of raw water requirements to Metro Manila, protected and free from any form of pollution.

Globe is one of the country’s few companies that nurture its people’s innate desire to help by providing every employee with one day of “Volunteer Time-Off” every year to pursue their chosen advocacy. It also encourages “volunteaming,” where employees are free to organize themselves in groups to pursue their advocacies.

In 2017, volunteerism in Globe reached an all-time high of 52.8 percent of total employee base who volunteered for various social development causes. It also institutes activity-based and skill-based volunteering to support work with a partner group or community, organizing people who may want to join various advocacies and provide pro bono services, capacity building, or skills transfer.

“We must cease being tolerant of environmental abuse and take an active part in the strict enforcement of environmental laws, rules, regulations and ordinances,” DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said. “The government needs the citizenry’s direct participation in accelerating reforestation, coastal cleanups, energy conservation and popularizing lifestyles that will enable the country to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance its resilience.”

The partnership with DENR was pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1481, s. 2008 that calls for various efforts to help green the cities and oceans. It also forms part of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that Globe supports, namely Climate Action and Life of Land.

Globe continues to be an avid supporter of the DENR’s various environment-related activities. In 2017, Globe employees participated in a 30-km bike trek called Bike.Hike.Plant., which ran from the DENR Region 3 Office located at the Government Center, Maimpis, San Fernando City, Pampanga up to the Mount Arayat National Park.

In Bike.Hike.Plant., each volunteer biked around the city and then hiked up to the chosen area to plant a tree. Globe provided free charging stations during the event, which aimed to showcase the beauty of Philippine forests and encourage people from various sectors of the society to rehabilitate and protect forests by advocating responsible tourism and proactive reforestation.

For more about Globe Telecom’s various employee volunteerism activities, visit www.globe.com.ph.